So it took the better part of 24 hours from the time I woke up Monday morning to get to where I’m staying just outside of Tokyo. As such, you might imagine I was a little exhausted. In reality, I was a lot exhausted… ;) At any rate, so far I’ve done more or less nothing except travel, sleep, and wake up. So, no pictures.
Okay, a couple of pictures to tide you over:
Starbucks in Japan has a new kind of drink, the “Jelly Frappucino”. Basically, it’s a regular frap with coffee-flavoure Jello in the bottom, which breaks up as you suck it through the straw, for an extra hit of coffee flavour. It’s actually pretty good, but it is definitely weird.
This is yours-truly at Narita, about 20 hours after I started the trip. As you can see from my bloodshot eyes, I can really use that intense coffee beverage.
So far I’ve only bought one manga, and honestly only to blog about it, because it’s weird. What you see here for about five bucks is 400 pages of manga about cats. Cat-themed manga stories. By a variety of artists. Includes a special section at the front of full-colour photos of cats doing adorable things. Also, the manga itself is pretty adorable.
Look how adorable that thing is.
I’ve also started drinking. We saw this advertised on the train, so I figured I’d give it a shot. It’s 8% lemon-flavoured alcohol, to get you hammered more quickly and in a more financially prudent way. In these tough economic times, why not buy the booze that has twice the alcohol content for the same price (148 yen)? Anyway, it tastes a lot like lemons, real lemons and not like lemon-flavoured beverages, but also, when warm, a bit like kerosine. Would Not Buy Again. I love the Kirin cans though…!
It’s sort of a grey, drizzly day. But still: Japan!
Like I said, we just watched some TV with the kids before they went off to kindergarden, so in closing I will share two shots of the show we watched with you.
- Chris
!!! A new manga about cats! I collect “pet manga”, I have a whole shelf of raw Japanese manga based around pet ownership stories. Mostly cat-related ones, but I have a few about hamsters and rabbits, too. Pet manga are great!
June 23rd, 2009 at 8:16 pm
That kids show looks whacked , that costumed dude looks like he’s got a hangover.
June 23rd, 2009 at 8:32 pm
Kitty cute… Kids show thinger… HORRIFYING
June 23rd, 2009 at 10:35 pm
Ah, we’re leaving Chiba tomorrow afternoon. Enjoy!
http://mlyhlss.blogspot.com/2009/06/tiger-woods-sparks-international.html
June 24th, 2009 at 2:03 am
Chris,
There’s a new Junji Ito cat manga tanko out. No horror, just cats. You should pick it up while you’re here.
Alvin
June 24th, 2009 at 2:12 am
Oh man Chris,
I am so pumped for you near daily dumps of photos and commentary. Holy crap. This is going to be so sweet.
June 24th, 2009 at 4:04 am
I will be looking for that manga at Kinokuniya when I go to NYC. Thanks for pics.
June 24th, 2009 at 6:12 am
MangaBlog » Blog Archive » Shoppers’ alert, summer reading, Japan travel photos says:
[...] Christopher Butcher is in Japan, buying cat manga, drinking jellied coffee, and taking pictures of everything he sees. Enjoy! [...]
June 24th, 2009 at 7:33 am
Shoppers’ alert, summer reading, Japan travel photos | Anime Blog Online says:
[...] Christopher Butcher is in Japan, buying cat manga, drinking jellied coffee, and taking pictures of everything he sees. Enjoy! [...]
June 24th, 2009 at 8:03 am
Ahhh the Jelly Frappucino coffee thing. That thing was strange I’ll agree. Glad you made it over safely! :D
June 24th, 2009 at 11:53 pm
Oh wow, I would totally love to get my hands on a cat-themed “phonebook” manga. Kind of reminds me of TV specialty channels. “All cats. All manga. Now with more cats.”
Japanese kids shows are definitely a lot weirder than shows here. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7EuAC6mgTyM
June 26th, 2009 at 1:48 am
so sad, I thought the big orange character was Andrew!
June 26th, 2009 at 8:37 am
Robot 6 @ Comic Book Resources - Covering Comic Book News and Entertainment » Dear Chris, please pick me up an Astro Boy cookie jar. Thanks. says:
[...] the Land of the Rising Sun and sending back photos of his excursions. So far he’s bought manga about cats and stopped by the Village Vanguard book store, but the real gold mine so far is his trip to the [...]
July 6th, 2009 at 10:33 am